You helped us raise $100,000!

50 days ago, SSDP was in trouble. A significant grant we had historically relied on was held up and at risk of not coming through, and it looked like we might have to scale back our efforts to fight the Drug War in 2014. But before giving up hope, we launched a crowdfunding campaign and reached out to our supporters to see if we could make up some of the difference, and wow, did you come through!

Just hours before the deadline, we broke $100,000! / screenshot credit: Sam Tracy

We set out with the ambitious goal of raising $100,000 in only 50 days. To be honest, some of us weren’t so sure we could do it. That’s a huge amount of money for any group, let alone a lean-and-mean nonprofit with a very small staff and an annual budget of less than $500,000. But our amazing network of students, alumni, and supporters rallied to the cause — 449 donors contributed a total of $100,641, bringing us over our goal and ensuring we’ll have the resources we need to continue our important work.

And even more great news: near the end of the campaign we were notified by our major donor that we will still be receiving our large grant for 2014, meaning that rather than being used to make up for losses elsewhere, this crowdfunding campaign will allow us to seriously step up our efforts. This money will help us provide free starter kits for new chapters across the globe, more scholarships for students to attend our 2014 International Conference and Lobby Day, and one-on-one staff support for thousands of students working to end drug prohibition, one campus, state, and national policy at a time.

Every single dollar contributed to this campaign will help us pursue our mission, but we’d especially like to thank the generosity of Scott Banister, who donated at our $50,000 “Superhero” level. In appreciation for his support, we’ll be creating the Scott and Cyan Banister Award to be presented at our annual awards ceremony. We also greatly appreciate the group of Colorado businesses who provided a $10,000 matching donation to help bring us over the top. We couldn’t have done it without them or the numerous others who chipped in and became a part of this campaign: